Opena’s Opinions

Opena’s Opinions

Greetings from the desert fellow CBSI members. Glad to be back with you! There is probably a good chance that many of us reading this were 80s kids. Perhaps I am biased, but there are so many wonderful memories in terms of this decade that helped shape the website this article is appearing on today. With full disclosure I can say I spent 8 years during high school and college working at a mom and pop video store. There was nothing more fun than rummaging thru old B titles like the one shown above. Funny, we all have our favs. This includes our comic book creators. Jerome Opena, a Filipino born artist is a HUGE fan of that Academy Award bait Deadly Prey. I mean come on, who isn’t on board with some guy mowing down baddies in daisy dukes?

Jerome grew up in Taiwan where his father worked in the International Agricultural Organization industry. At the age of 16, his family made the move to the states. Shortly after, he went to art school. He spent the first post grad years floating around doing different jobs along with occasional illustration and a bit of comic work. It wasn’t until 2005 that he started work full time due to a relationship started with one Rick Remender. The rest has become a whirlwind of brilliant work under many different publishers. Yes, we all know Seven to Eternity. However, let’s take a look at other projects he has done covers for, including many I think will surprise you in their beauty. Buckle in, time for some Opena love.

Bonus Covers:

Non Marvel

Phew, that’s a lot of cover work listed huh? Yes, there is more Seven to Eternity covers as well, but most are familiar with those works. Jerome Opena is a talented, young artist who has a continued bright future in this industry if he chooses to remain. His art/opinions of how covers should be set up rank amount the very best in today’s market.

Well that’s it’s for this week! I hope you found something you have not seen before and can grab it for your PC if it makes sense. We in the business used to say “Support your local mom and pop video stores, not the chains like Blockbuster”. Well, they both died. Let’s not have the same thing happen to LCS’s

I will leave you with some gem posters from this era for a trip down nostalgia lane, Jerome Opena would be proud!

8 comments

Absolutely love the 80s B title covers at the end. That does bring back so many memories. The adult section. I remember I used to wonder if my middle school peach fuzz ‘stache was enough to get me a free pass into the back of my West Coast Video. Never went back there though.

But don’t crap on Blockbuster. I was an assistant manager at one throughout college. We made sure our back catalogue was legit. A couple of my friends were also mangers, so we had a lot of input. Or truth be told, we just ordered movies for the store we wanted to see and said a customer requested it. and then when no one rented it, it would go on clearance “used” sale and we could pick it up cheap. Working the system. Perhaps that didn’t help keep it open. That and i would clear anyone’s late fees as long as they had the decency to lie to me with a good story as to why it was late.

And I had no idea Opena was Filipino. Now I love him more. Awesome art, and love his style. Now I have a few more books to add to my want list.

AWEsOME !!! That Uncanny 32 is Dope, Love the Deadpool #1 w/Cable, Punisher #2 is always a crowd pleaser, Hulk V3 #3 is a must have so is the Daredevil #3. WOW ! I’ve seen half of these covers… I own a lot of the Kickass #3’s,
There’s so much good stuff ! Deadly Class is super cool and That Convergence Swipe is also in my PC. But those posters are off the CHAIN ! Thanks man. You put huge smile on my face and filled my soul with delicious eye candy.
OUTSTANDING JOB ! and know I gotta go buy some books…